Alexander Zverev beat beat Sebastian Ofner 6-4 6-1 at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna to score his 50th match win of the season on the ATP Tour. Zverev converted four of his seven break points and did not face a break point.
Both players held on their serve in the first six games before Zverev won 10 of the next 12 games. The German player converted his third break point to take a 4-3 lead and held on his next two service games to wrap up the first set 6-4.
Zverev broke three times to seal the win on his first match point stopping a three-match losing streak.
Zverev has improved to 3-0 in his head-to-head series against Ofner. He has now a 8-1 win-loss record in Vienna, where he claimed the title in 2021.
“Obviously I am happy to be back to winning ways after the past two weeks, which were not very positive for me. In general I am happy to be back in Europe, happy to be back in Europe, happy to be back in a German speaking country. I think you always feel comfortable here straight away. At the end of the day, tennis is tennis. You have to win by playing tennis and I did well managing certain things, but I think, all in all, the crowd Is always good and fair. They are always very energetic and loud, but I am happy with today”, said Zverev.
Zverev set up a second round against Cameron Norrie, who beat Filip Misolic 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-3.
Norrie earned an early break in the first game to take a 1-0 lead. Misolic broke straight back in the second game to draw level to 1-1. Both players held on serve until the 10th game. Norrie saved three set points in the 12th game. The British player fended off a fourth set point to win the tie-break 9-7. Misolic earned an early break in the first game to win the first set 6-4. Norie started the third set with an early break in the second game after a 20-point rally and never faced a break point to seal the win.
Karen Khachanov beat Roman Safiulin 6-4 6-4 with a break in each set setting up a second round match against Jiri Lehecka, who beat J.J Wolf 6-4 6-4.
Matteo Arnaldi battled past Albert Ramos Vinolas 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) after 2 hours and 18 minutes. Arnaldi earned an early break in the second game and saved two break-back points in the third game to hold serve with an ace. Ramos Vinolas converted the first of two break-back points in the seventh game and held serve to draw level to 4-4. Ramos Vinolas saved a set point in the 10thgame.
Arnaldi went two mini-breaks to open up a 4-0 lead. Ramos Vinolas pulled one mini-break back to cut the deficit to 2-4. After a trade of mini-breaks Arnaldi earned three set points at 6-3 and sealed the tie-break on his second opportunity after a forehand error from Ramos Vinolas.
Both players held on their serve until the fifth game of the second set, when Arnaldi broke serve to take a 3-2 lead. Arnaldi earned two match points at 5-4 with two aces, but Ramos Vinolas saved the first chance with a forehand. Arnaldi missed the second match point with a forehand unforced error. The Spanish player earned a break-back after a backhand error from Arnaldi to force the second set to the tie-break. Both players traded mini-breaks at the start of the tie-break to draw level to 2-2. Arnaldi won five consecutive points to claim the tie-break 7-2.
Arnaldi, who reached the fourth round at the US Open, has improved his record to 19-13 this season. The Italian player set up a second round match against either Andrey Rublev or Alexei Popyrin.